Review: "Wonder Woman 1984"

I've seen this film get a lot of slander online, and some of it is too harsh, in my opinion. However, all those reviews are right about one thing: This film is nowhere near the visual and emotional level of the first. But that doesn't mean it's not a lot of fun.

First off, the visuals are a step down from the first film, because it sacrifices action for emotion, which was a poor choice, because I didn't feel like crying at this film, unlike the first one. where it's a bit of a tearjerker. The film also has numerous plot holes and some parts are overly complicated. But if you relax your brain for 151 minutes, you'll have a moderate amount of fun watching this movie.

As usual, Gal Gadot gives a great performance as the titular character, and Chris Pine returns as Steve Trevor... but in another guy's body, due to the Dreamstone, which grants wishes. If the stone can make a whole wall come up out of nowhere and teleport people outside of Egypt, why can't it just revive a dead guy? Pretty problematic, but not too much.

The main villain, Maxwell Lord, is a terrifically acted character, courtesy of Pedro Pascal, the Mandalorian guy. Although it feels like the character himself is just put in the movie to be a response to Trump by making his ego Trump-size, Pascal still brings life into the character, who wishes to become the Dreamstone itself in order to achieve success. We also get flashbacks of Lord's childhood, and you could sympathize with him. Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva (and later the Cheetah) is a great pick, and she acts very well as an awkward person who gets jealous and turns into a super-strength animal, which looks pretty ugly, in my opinion.

The visual effects are not as convincing as the first film, although the budget is $50 million higher. However, they still are stunning, but the film is lacking a good fight scene. The one with Wonder Woman and the Cheetah is pretty lame and is nowhere near the level of the one with Ares from the first film. Again, I don't approve of how they sacrificed action for emotion and the film is not that emotional at all.

All in all, Wonder Woman 1984's lack of action, emotional depth, or a convincing plot are carried by strong performances and mesmerizing-albeit downgraded-special effects.

RATING: 6/10